A Matter of Pride
by Laurus Nobilis
Summary: Very few people in the multiverse can truly challenge Clow Reed. One of them is Q and, unfortunately, he knows it. XXXHOLiC, Card Captor Sakura and Star Trek: TNG.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **XXXHOLiC and Card Captor Sakura belong to CLAMP. Star Trek belongs to Paramount.

**Author's Note:** I wrote this fic for the "Self-Indulgent Fiction Challenge" at LiveJournal. But don't worry! Just because the premise is crazy doesn't mean I didn't put a lot of thought on the execution. ;) It was a lot of fun, trying to figure out how to make this work.

I'm using manga canon for CCS and HOLiC. So, if you find yourself wondering "why didn't he use such and such Card?", remember that he's got only nineteen of them. After all, it's more of a challenge this way...

* * *

**I**

Sometimes, Yuuko's business required diplomacy. A title like Witch of Dimension meant that she had no way of going unnoticed. That, in turn, meant that once in a while she was visited by some of the most powerful entities in the multiverse. The downside was that, as she had soon found out, those tended to be the most annoying ones too.

And, right now, she was stuck playing shogi with who was possibly the most powerful and most annoying of them all.

Q had randomly showed up at her house, as he often did. Her own premonition was the only warning that she had got. Then again, at least he wasn't one of those who assumed people would expect them; quite the contrary, he seemed to enjoy the shock. For a nearly-omnipotent being, his interest in humans was unusual. Most of the powerful aliens out there just ignored them. He messed with them and had a lot of fun in the process.

Luckily, Yuuko was one of the few mortals who had earned his respect – if it was because of her power or her sense of humour, she hadn't found out. In any case, he had never caused her trouble. He simply visited once in a while, dressed in the local fashion even though his preferred human form didn't look Japanese at all, and played games like these while he gossiped about his latest antics.

"Your era is so relaxing," he sighed, moving one of the pieces forward. "People will get insane later, mark my words."

"Later?" she repeated.

"I've just visited a group of really amusing friends in the twenty-fourth century," he explained. Yuuko doubted that those poor people consider Q a _friend_, but she knew better than to voice her opinion.

"What brings you back here, then?" she asked. "I doubt you came only for a game of shogi."

"Do you think I don't enjoy visiting you?" he told her, pretending to be hurt, but her bored look cut off his teasing at the root. "Of course I have plans. I always do. I come with a lesson on the dangers of having too much pride."

Yuuko made her own move in silence. She knew that there was no need for more questions; Q loved to talk, especially about himself. Indeed, it wasn't long until he started speaking again.

"I mean, you humans can get so cocky sometimes," he said. "You play around in a few worlds and call yourselves powerful. You shouldn't let your ego go to your head so easily."

She looked at him for a moment, considering the situation. She didn't like where the conversation was going. If she knew him well – and she though she did, as well as anyone could know Q, at least – his 'plans' involved playing around with people. That was never a good thing.

"You do know that this is my _job_, of course," she said slowly. He laughed at her and waved his hand.

"See, there's the ego again. This isn't about you," he told her. "It's your boyfriend who needs to get a bit of perspective."

Yuuko nearly choked on her sake. This was bad, bad news – so bad that she didn't even think of correcting the 'boyfriend' part. She would be the first one to say that Clow was way too smug, of course, but Q's idea of giving people perspective was rather different from hers. And considerably more dangerous.

"Oh, don't fret," he said, "I'm not going to hurt him much."

o O o

Something bad was about to happen. Something really, _really_ bad.

Clow's uneasyness had been growing since that morning. It was a horrible sensation. He was sure that there was trouble ahead, but he couldn't quite discern in what form. That uncertainty was the worst part of it. He could tell that someone, or something, was actively preventing him from seeing the whole picture.

That was enough to worry even someone like him. What kind of power was able to interfere with his Sight? The one behind this could not be of this world...

Then it struck him, an icy feeling of dread – the Guardians. It was about his Guardians. He looked up at them, but it was already late to warn them. He only had time to see, horrified, how they were sealed by an external force... a force that materialized just in time to catch them, in the shape of a smirking, rather unimpressive man.

Clow knew better than to let that harmless appearance fool him, however. The sheer power that now filled the room was overwhelming. And, from all the near omnipotent beings that he had ever heard about, there was only one who would waste time bothering simple humans.

"You are... "

"You may call me Q," the stranger said. "But I see you've heard about me. I bet your girlfriend has been talking about me behind my back again."

"_Who_?"

"Yuuko, of course. How many girlfriends do you have?"

"She's not my –"

"Oh, come on. This isn't the time for denial," Q interrupted, looking almost curiously at the sealed forms of the Guardians and moving them around to see them from all angles. "You, my friend, are in a very tight spot right now."

"I can tell," said Clow. "Give them back."

"Do you really think you're in a position to talk to me like that?"

"Leave them out of this," he insisted. "Whatever is your problem with me, they have nothing to do with it."

"They do, in a way," said the alien. "That's quite an ego you've got there, to go around creating life... But I won't harm them," he pointed out, before Clow could intervene. "I'll just keep them sealed until we come to an understanding."

The wizard bit back an angry reply. It wouldn't do to upset him, after all; and he also knew that he shouldn't try to recover his Guardians using force. It would be pointless to waste his magic like that. Not even his powers were a match for Q – not by far.

"All right. Just tell me what you want," he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"It's simple, really. We're going to play a little game," the alien told him, with an innocent air that didn't fool anyone. Clow gave him a long look, suspicious of his attitude. This certainly couldn't end well.

"What kind of game?" he asked at last, frowning.

"My favourite kind," said Q. "One where I set all the rules."

"But what am I supposed to _do_?" the wizard demanded, between confused and exasperated.

"Oh, you'll find out. Hopefully."

"That hardly sounds fair," Clow muttered.

"Too bad," was the nonchalant reply. "Now, rules. First: I keep these until you win. _If_ you win, that is. Second: you get to keep those Cards of yours, because you'll need them. Third: no outside help unless I feel like it, so don't bother trying to contact anyone."

"When does it end?" he asked.

"When you find out what you have to do and do it. Or when you get killed. Whichever comes first."

"Well, isn't that reassuring..."

"And the most important rule of all," said Q, "no peeking ahead!"

Clow winced. He could feel a good deal of his power slipping away from him, draining, and he couldn't tell if the sensation had lasted forever or just a second. He felt light-headed when it was over, as if he was too _empty_. Something was missing...

When he opened his eyes, he was alone. That wasn't a problem. The problem was that he was in the middle of a jungle. Instinctively, he took his hand to the pocket where he kept his Cards, and sighed in relief when he realized that they were still there. At least in that respect, Q had kept his word.

He looked around, trying to figure out what to do. The jungle was thick, so much that it wouldn't make sense to use Fly. There was only a narrow path that he could follow. It seemed that walking was his only choice.

Without really noticing it, he clutched the Cards in his hand. Knowing that they were there was his only comfort in that situation. He was alone, lost, and still dizzy.

And he had no idea of what would happen next.

o O o

"That was cruel," Yuuko said.

Q didn't seem to mind it, nor her constant pacing around the room. He had made himself comfortable on her couch – without invitation, of course – and was throwing a Magic 8-Ball up and down.

"How so? He didn't enjoy these, and I took them away." The ball fell onto his hand yet again as he finished speaking.

"Will you stop playing with that?" she snapped, before quite realising who she was talking to. As much as she hated to admit it, it was a good thing that Q found her moderately amusing. It was the only reason why she could get away with shouting at him like that.

"I'm not going to break it," he said. "Not that I think your friend would mind."

"See, that's exactly what I'm talking about," she sighed.

"You humans are never content," he replied dramatically. "I grant him his wish and you call me cruel."

"It's _how_," Yuuko insisted, still pacing. "You took his Sight now that he needs it, but then what? The moment he could start to enjoy it, he'll get it all back. And he's not an idiot, Q. He _knows_ that."

"That's part of the test, too."

"You're just laughing at him," she muttered.

"Of course. That's what it's all about," said Q. "There's no need to get all sentimental about it, you know. At this rate, you'll end up asking me to let you go help him."

Yuuko snorted. She knew him too well to play along with his tricks, and he obviously could tell that. He wasn't even trying.

"Because that would change something, right?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Let's ask our oracle, shall we?"

The window on the 8-Ball read _Don't count on it._


	2. Chapter 2

**II**

Clow was beginning to wonder exactly for how long had he been walking along that path. He wasn't tired yet – he was in a good physical state, after all – but he felt almost bored. Nothing had happened since Q had left him there; nothing at all. The most eventful moment so far had been when he had decided to cast Shield around him, tired of waving mosquitoes away.

This couldn't be right. Wasn't this supposed to be some kind of challenge? Yet there he was, walking down a narrow path in the middle of the jungle, and he hadn't had a single problem. There hadn't been any obstacles on his way. No wild animals had approached him. He wasn't even hungry yet, but there were plenty of fruits around him. It was making him nervous.

In fact, the uncertainty itself was the only thing he couldn't take.

Although he wasn't feeling dizzy anymore, he had soon found that the disappearance of part of his powers was much more noticeable with a clear head. At first, it had felt only as a certain emptiness, a blurry sensation of loss that he couldn't quite define. He had tried to do a few basic things and discovered that Q had been very, very specific, damn him and his sense of irony.

The future was no more than a blank space ahead. Even the near future. And, as much as Clow hated admitting it to himself, it confused him. He was a planner, and he was a strategist, and he knew he could get out of this mess – but he had counted on that extra advantage for far too long, and it was showing. He had taken it for granted, and now he couldn't even be happy about getting rid of it at last.

Sighing, he sat down on the thick roots of a nearby tree. There was no point on blindly following that path; it didn't seem to lead anywhere. What he needed was a clearer goal. Something to aim for.

Suddenly, Clow felt something tugging at his right ankle. He looked down and discovered that one of the partially unearthed roots had twisted itself around it. He frowned in disbelief. Attacking trees? That was rather amateurish.

"Sword!" he called, and snapped the offending root immediately. The tree fought back a little, but it didn't take more than a few moments to subdue it. It was almost disappointing.

At least, until he realized what the _real_ danger was. Q had managed to deactivate Shield.

He cursed loudly and took out the Cards again, quickly checking on them. They were all there, and all of them were in perfect condition. Relief flowed over him, but it only lasted a moment: this meant that Q could simply stop his magic whenever he wanted to. And to think he had promised to let him keep the Cards – well, of course he would, if this was how things were going to be like. So much for setting rules.

The worst part of it, however, was the nagging feeling that it could happen again any moment. Clow hadn't even noticed it when Shield stopped working.

He rubbed his temples, sighing, and tried to think of something useful. A proper course of action, for example. But if he didn't know what he was supposed to do...

It was then that he felt it, a sudden warmth in his hand. He looked down and, as expected, the Cards were glowing slightly. He let them go, and they hovered around him, anxious. He should have expected them to worry about him, he thought, but it was touching nonetheless.

"It's all right," he told them, smiling a little. "We will get them back."

Q didn't like his optimism, it seemed. As soon as he had finished speaking, the ground began to shake. It didn't last for long, but it was enough for the whole place to shatter. The trees were quickly crumbling into sand. Clow barely had time to use Jump, trying not to fall as high dunes were growing around him. There was no place steady enough to step on, however, and he slid and rolled a couple of times until the movement stopped.

It could have been much worse, he told himself when it was over. He was still sore from the falls, and a few strands of his hair had got painfully stuck in the frames of his glasses, but at least he had managed to stay on top of the dune. That was something to be grateful for, all things considered.

At last, he disentangled his hair from the spectacles and put them on again. The landscape that surrounded him, he discovered, was far from a nice sight. He couldn't hold back a groan as he looked around.

It had been impossible to guess the size of the jungle, but now the situation was very different; there were no obstacles blocking the view anymore. And the desert had turned out to be _huge_. All around him, and as far as he could see, there was nothing but yellowish dunes one after the other. It would be hell to walk there, and for a moment he toyed with the idea of using Fly now that he could, but he soon discarded that plan. He couldn't risk that if he didn't know when the Card might fail.

To make things worse, it was terribly hot. Clow took off his black outer cloak, which was certainly not meant for that weather, and let Erase keep it until he needed it again. It was better to start moving, he decided; he didn't gain anything by sitting there in the sun. He took the sand off his slippers and started walking, while Shadow floated dutifully above him.

"Trying to find the beach?"

He turned around and glared at Q, who looked much too amused for his liking. He was wearing a ridiculous summer outfit, complete with a lifesaver in the shape of a yellow duck.

"You said I could use the Cards," Clow snapped at him, the first thing that came to mind upon seeing him.

"No, I said you could _keep_ them," the alien replied. "Those are completely different things."

"That's nonsense. We had rules –"

"Yes, yes, I know," sighed Q, rolling his eyes. "Since when are you so obsessed about rules, anyway?"

"I just want my Guardians back," Clow insisted.

"Fine. Then go get them."

"Fine!"

Q disappeared without deigning to give him an answer – not a spoken one, at least. Shadow returned to its Card form as soon as he left.

o O o

"He's pretty stubborn, your friend," Q said mildly. He had returned with news, and he seemed to be enjoying the new developments of his little experiment. Yuuko glared at him from her couch.

"The idiot is going to get himself killed," she muttered. The situation didn't bode well at all. Clow was too used to win, and Q could be ruthless when he wanted to.

"Probably," he admitted, without the slightest hint of regret.

"You could at least give him a hint," she said. Her visitor seemed to consider the idea.

"I would, if he asked me," he replied at last.

"Would you?" Yuuko asked dryly. He grinned.

"I don't know. Let's ask our –"

"Oh, _stop _that."

"You have no sense of fun, Yuuko dear," Q sighed.

The problem, she thought, was that his sense of fun was completely out of proportion. It was enough to get her worried – worried about Clow, of all people, as if he couldn't take care of himself! The idea sounded ridiculous... She smiled to herself, suddenly a little more confident. It _was_ a silly idea. She had the feeling that things would turn out all right in the end.

Clow Reed might be many things but, above all, he was one lucky bastard.

o O o

The night was cold, which meant that Clow had to retrieve his cloak and wrap it around him again. It was a good thing, in a way; he could stop using magic on Erase now. There were plenty of other things to worry about, after all.

Some of the basics were solved. He had conjured a canteen that Watery refilled every time that he needed it. He had a fire to keep himself warm during the night. The problem was getting something to _eat_. So far, he had tried to ignore it as best as he could, but he was starting to wish he had taken some of those fruits while he could. He rubbed his hands against each other, keeping them close to the fire, and tried to think of a useful plan.

Then it hit him. It was a strange idea, something he hadn't even taken into account, back when he made the Cards; but it might work if he focused enough. At least, he hoped so.

Flower was first. He asked her for all he could think of: apple blossoms, plum blossoms, peach blossoms... Although she looked a little confused – perhaps worried about Master losing his mind to the heat, he though grimly – her magic worked perfectly, and she left him with plenty to choose from. Then again, that had been the easy part.

Wood looked just as confused when he called her, and even more as he put all those flowers in her arms.

"I know we have never tried this before, but I need you to help me," he told her. "Please, try to make these grow."

She nodded, looking curiously at him. Taking a deep breath, Clow released his staff. He hadn't wanted to do it, not if he could avoid it; he certainly didn't want Q to decide that it wasn't going to work anymore. But, this time, there was no place for shortcuts. This was something new and he needed to focus all of his magic on it.

If only it would work...

He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. The spell itself wasn't too difficult for him – he had created life from scratch, after all, he shouldn't have any trouble making things simply grow. What did give him problems was realizing that he didn't know if he would succeed. It was a feeling that he hadn't experienced since he was very young, and it was distracting him. He felt that focusing was much harder than it had ever been.

At last, he opened his eyes again, tired. He leaned on the staff for support; the effort had been greater than he had expected. Wood came closer, looking somewhat disappointed, and showed him the results: she carried nothing but a couple of peaches and an apple. Clow patted her head, sighing.

"I know you did your best," he assured her. "It's because of him, that we couldn't get anything else."

He took the fruits and sat down next to the fire again. For a moment, she looked at him with a worried expression.

"Perhaps we can try again," she said in a quiet voice. Clow smiled softly at her.

"This is enough," he lied. He'd rather stay hungry than waste so much magic again on something that might not work after all, but she didn't need to know that.

"You are very tired," she whispered. "Won't you sleep?"

That was unexpected. Blinking, he wondered what kind of impression was he giving them now. She had always been kind and gentle, but this time she sounded truly concerned. Were they really so worried about him?

"It's all right," he said at last. Wood didn't seem too convinced, but she knew him well enough and didn't try to insist. She simply returned to her Card form quietly, after one last thoughtful look.

Clow sighed. It was going to be a long night... Although he would have enjoyed having some company, he was too drained to keep any of the Cards active. It was an effort that he didn't want to risk; he didn't know when would he need his magic for something more urgent. It felt as if everything was twice as difficult for him since he was trapped in this mess. In a way, it didn't quite surprise him – Q could easily lessen the effect of his magic.

In fact, Q could easily do whatever he pleased, and that was making Clow more nervous every moment. He still wasn't used at all to the loss of his Sight. The complete uncertainty of what was to come next was too much for him, more so because his rival didn't seem to have a method to his madness: he was whimsical and random, and therefore unpredictable by mere strategic thought. He could tell that not even his mundane skills were going to help him if something _truly_ bad happened. And if it did, what would become of his Guardians? Would they be sealed forever? Or worse – he winced at the thought of Q playing with them and with the Cards in the same way that he played with everything else.

Clow hadn't been frightened in a very, very long time. But this was getting dangerously close.


	3. Chapter 3

**III**

Clow _was_ beginning to doze off, after all, in spite of all his efforts. He was about to fall asleep completely when a deep rumble startled him. He jumped up, suddenly awake by sheer necessity – the whole ground was cracking. The sand started to slip away beneath his feet, dragging him down with it.

There was no choice this time. Keeping Windy at hand just in case, he called for Fly and hoped for the best.

Slowly, the desert was turning into a neverending plain of bare rock. The dunes disappeared as the sand that formed them fell down the deep cracks. Clow realized with some disappointment that there still wasn't anywhere else to go. He simply kept himself at a safe distance above the ground; not very high, however, since that was too much of a risk.

It turned out that the precautions were necessary. Fly stopped working all of a sudden, with no warning signs whatsoever. But he had been expecting it and managed to use Windy just on time. He floated down slowly, until he was almost on the ground again. Then he made a grave mistake: he thought he was safe.

The Card failed and dropped him. It was no worse than falling off a chair, but the ground he landed on was stone. He sat up with his glasses askew, rubbing his aching shoulder.

"Now, that was just mean-spirited!" he snapped, with the absolute certainty that Q was listening.

He was right, indeed. It started raining.

o O o

The next time that Q appeared at Yuuko's house, he found her a lot calmer, lounging on her couch and sipping sake as if nothing unusual was going on. She was still convinced that there was no reason to be worried, even after getting bad news about Clow's situation again.

"I don't really like this," the alien said when he finished telling her what had happened now. "He's getting too many ideas."

"Do you think he has a chance, then?" she asked. Q leaned closer and answered in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Actually, he's going completely in the wrong direction."

Yuuko wasn't upset by his answer. She put an arm around his shoulders, grinning.

"Are we still friends?"

"You know," he laughed, "just for your boldness, I think I'll give you what you're going to ask for."

"Don't be too mean to him when you bring him back," she said. Q raised his eyebrows.

"_If_ I bring him back," he corrected.

"Yes, yes," Yuuko replied, ignoring him. "And don't tell him I said that."

"Oh, I'll have to think about that part."

_o O o_

Clow's first reaction to the change in the weather was to use Shield around him again, cross his arms over his knees, and sulk. It was unbecoming to him, he knew that. He hadn't acted like that since he was a moody teenager with too much power in his hands. But he didn't care. There was no one to see him, and the Cards wouldn't tell.

It was still night and, between that and the constant rain, everything was pitch black around him. Glow wasn't much use; he could barely see himself, even with the bright spheres floating nearby. However, it was the best he could do. Light required too much power, and then he would have to use Dark too. The mere thought made him feel exhausted.

When the sun finally came out, he realized that he couldn't just sit around, as much as he would have liked to. The water, that had been falling down the cracks on the ground so far, seemed to be pooling around him. Its level was rising quickly – _very_ quickly. He activated Fly again and tried to keep himself a little above the surface. In a few minutes, there was a whole sea where only a while earlier there had been a desert, and it was deep enough to cover a man.

Or worse, Clow corrected himself, suddenly discovering the dark shape that was moving right below him. It was deep enough to cover a monster. He shot upwards, but it was too late – the creature had jumped, and pushed him down into the water. With a presence of mind he didn't expect to have anymore, he used Watery to create a bubble around him; but the greatest problem remained. Now he could look at the monster that attacked him: it was a giant reptile, a dragon-like being from the times before men lived on the earth. And it was still focused on him.

He glanced at the surface, trying to calculate the distance. Using Sword meant he had to break the bubble, but if he could make it up there –

The plan was pointless. To his horror, Watery returned to its Card form, barely giving him time to take a breath. The monster launched itself on him, pushing him deeper, deeper... He didn't waste energy on Sword. He needed to focus on something greater. It was difficult, but at last he felt it, after what seemed ages; his magic was working, moving the ground beneath him.

A pillar of rock shot up, pushing the creature aside on its way. Clow managed to get a grip on a salient, and Earthy led him up to the surface. For a while, he simply lay there, gasping, without even bothering to take his hair off his eyes. This time it had been too close for his liking. Things were getting _really_ serious now. He took his hand to his face, reaching for his glasses.

They weren't there.

He groaned, tired. They had to be floating around somewhere... Suddenly, a horrible thought overcame him, and he took his hand to his neck – then he sighed in relief. He still had his Key, at least. It gave him a little hope, so he decided to give it a try and look for the lost spectacles.

"Watery, please," he said hoarsely. Nothing happened. "Please..."

He was about to give up when the sprite did appear, after all. She looked as weak as he felt, and he almost called her back, but she had already jumped into the sea. Clow sat up slowly, squinting as he tried to look around. All he could make out around him was water.

No, he realized, not quite. There was a dark, blurry shape coming nearer and nearer. He didn't need to see it properly to tell what it was. He didn't waste any time in plans or calculations. With one last effort, he did the only thing that he could think of.

"Thunder!"

It took him all the strength he had left, but it worked. The creature was still smoking when it sunk, just as the Card returned to him. Clow stumbled and fell backwards, slipping, feeling too heavy to even move. Earthy created a small elevation at his feet, catching him just on time.

"Thank you," he whispered. Watery came back, bringing his glasses with her. He smiled at her a little.

Then it started raining again. His smile disappeared, along with every trace of hope that had remained in him so far. He covered his face with his hands, groaning. He wasn't afraid, or even sad; he was just _angry_. The whole thing made him furious. He was cold, and wet, and tired, and he hadn't slept in ages. And he was completely at the mercy of an insane trickster.

It was enough to make even him explode.

"All right, that's it!" he shouted. "I can't deal with this anymore. It's too much! _I am not powerful enough!_ Is that what you want to hear?"

"In fact," said Q, "yes."

Clow lowered his arms and opened his eyes. He was standing in his living room again, as if nothing had happened – well, not quite. Q was sitting on his chair. After a few moments of disbelief, during which he still had the horrible feeling that this was just another mad joke, the wizard realized that it was, indeed, over.

"That was it?" he asked slowly, trying not to let his anger show too much. "You put me through all of that madness just so I would say that?"

"Of course not. You could have said it any moment," Q replied. He was playing around with a Magic 8-Ball, and for some reason his carelessness with it made Clow wince. "I put you through that so that you would _mean_ it."

"Why, how thoughtful of you," said Clow dryly. "I want my Guardians back."

"Hey, what's with the hurry?" said Q, pretending to look hurt. "I'm going to think you don't trust me."

He was about to reply, but he felt a new weight in one of his pockets as soon as the alien stopped speaking. He reached inside and there they were, both of them still sealed – and, more importantly, still safe. They were sleeping, so calm that he wondered if they had even noticed what had just happened. For a moment, he hesitated; then he decided that it would be better not to release them yet. Chances were that they would be angry, and he didn't want to risk that. He'd wait until Q left, but he didn't show any signs of wanting to do it anytime soon.

"Happy now?"

"Not really," Clow muttered. Q leaned back on the chair, giving him a meaningful look.

"Oh, come on," he told him. "You can't get so upset over a little game."

"You cheated!" the wizard exclaimed, and he would have said a lot more if the sound of a bell hadn't interrupted him. He sighed, rubbing his temples. "All right, you have a point about that one. But I have a good reason for that. Unlike _other_ people, I'm not doing it just for the fun of it."

"But you do like the fun of it," said Q. He took a small book out of nowhere; it had a pastel cover, with a picture of Sakura in a blue dress. "Look, it says so here. 'Hobby: surprising people'."

Clow blinked. This was getting far too surreal, and that was saying a lot considering how much his standards had changed during the last few hours.

"Indeed, my friend," the alien continued, "you and I do have some things in common. The difference is that you're working at a microscopical scale and I'm handling all the multiverse. You know what, I think I'll call you Mini-Me."

"I thought you said it was over," Clow said, gritting his teeth to prevent himself from yelling at him. "Do you really need to keep stabbing at my ego?"

"Please, I'm not that bad. Stop acting as if you'd just come out of a Total Perspective Vortex."

"Close enough, I think," he said, crossing his arms. "You're enjoying this far too much."

"And I can come up with a list of people who'd say the same about you," Q replied. "Just admit it. You like playing around with people."

"I told you, I have very good reasons -"

"That's beside the point," he said, waving his hand. "Ethics are so relative, anyway. But fun is always fun."

"Well," said Clow, with the beginning of a grin fighting to come out, "perhaps you aren't so wrong about that."

"Of course not. I'm never wrong," Q replied, as the wizard rolled his eyes at him. "It's your human limitations what makes it look that way."

"Really," Clow muttered.

"Really. But I can't stay to explain you the details of my superiority, I'm afraid. I have plans to meet an old friend now."

"Should I feel sorry for him?" he asked cheekily, raising an eyebrow. Q's smile was rather dangerous.

"Oh, I'm sure Jean-Luc does feel sorry for himself," he said. "Before I leave, though – I still have something else that's yours."

He threw the 8-Ball at Clow, who groaned as he caught it. It felt so terribly heavy... He twisted it around a little, grimacing at it. Then he looked up at Q.

"Isn't there a way...?"

"There are plenty of ways. But I'm sure your girlfriend would disapprove," he replied. "You'd probably regret it yourself in a while. Humans are strange like that, they feel weird when they get things for free. If there's something that amazes me about you people is that you _really_ don't like gifts."

"Tell me about it," Clow sighed. Just at that moment, the ball started spinning on its hand. This was it, then; the last of his freedom. He braced himself for the wave of power – the tiny transparent window opened itself –

Then a ridiculous clown's head jumped up like a jack-in-the-box, sticking out its tongue at him. Clow dropped the ball, startled, and stepped back out of instinct. Not a second later, he felt awfully silly. He turned around to look at Q, who was having quite a laugh at his expense.

"What on earth was that?" he exclaimed, dangerously close to getting angry again. Q stopped laughing and grinned at him.

"A surprise, of course," he said. "But only because I like Yuuko so much."

With that, he disappeared. For a few moments, Clow stared at the now empty chair, blinking.

And then, even as his power did embrace him, he smiled.

* * *

**The references:** Because they're always here! ;)

The jungle that crumbles into a desert is a nod to Michael Ende's _The Neverending story_. A Total Perspective Vortex is a concept from Douglas Adams's _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ series. And we all know Mini-Me from those silly Austin Powers movies...


End file.
